The Butterfly Effect
by rawriloveyou
Summary: The Marauders 6th year at Hogwarts begins with Sirius running away from home and Remus's presence at the school being investigated by the ministry. Follow the Marauders through their 6th year.
1. Chapter 1

The Butterfly Effect.

Chapter 1.

The evening was surprisingly cold for early August. Although it was only eight o'clock the light was already beginning to fade. The moon was muscling its way in, attempting to take the sky from the sun, if only for several hours before it would be forced back again.

The moment Sirius Black had arrived home for the summer holidays his room had been dismantled. Red drapes from the walls now lay strewn across the floor, the emerald green paint that lay underneath finally allowed to breathe. The canvas portraits of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black that he had hidden in drawers, buried under various items of clothing, were now dotted around the room. He had thrown them in anger at the walls and left them where they had fallen, destined, it seemed, to spend an eternity staring at the ceiling. Finally pictures of what he had once thought of as his real family had been plastered across the room, dumped on every surface, so there was always one visible from every angle. Most of the pictures were moved on a daily basis, from place to place, as a pale hand grabbed them, their crumpling edges retreating more each day. He would check at intervals, whether James Potter, Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew had returned or whether the portrait still contained just the one member, himself, staring dejectedly at the floor. Shameful tears sometimes escaped the portraits eyes.

The real Sirius lay flat out on the only space of floor left. It was cold hard wood, rough from the wear and tear of being crushed by agitated feet for hundreds of years. But Sirius relished the discomfort, he understood now that pain was something he deserved. One of the pictures was clutched in his hand, currently residing at his side. He lifted it up painfully slowly so he could see the picture, every ounce of his being wishing that he could just catch a glimpse of one of his friend's faces. It wasn't that he needed to see them, he could see them alright, their images floating around his head, disapproval clear in their eyes. He just wanted them to be thinking about him, he didn't like to think that he had just been cast out and completely forgotten. Nothing. Just himself. Tear stained and distraught. Stuck in a nightmare, alone forever. He shook his head, returning his hand to his side and tightening his fist around the picture, forcing more creases into the paper. He took in a deep breath of the dusty air around him and let it out slowly through his mouth, it was the only control his had now, his life was off-kilter, hurtling out of control. He couldn't even control the tears, protect his dignity, as they rolled mercilessly down his pale face that hadn't seen the light of the sun in weeks.

Yet he knew he did not deserve dignity either, so he did not struggle as the tears began again. The force of gravity pulled them down to the floor, so they trickled uncomfortably into his ears. The memories flooded back, another wave of tears joined them. The horrible moment that would haunt him for the rest of his existence, one sentence that he hadn't even thought about at the time. It had ruined his entire future.

_The boys greasy hair stuck to his face as he turned, "I know you're up to something Black," Snape snarled, "You, the half-blood, the blood traitor and the coward."_

_Sirius chose to ignore the insults, now was not the time to land himself in detention Moony needed him, "We're always up to something," he chuckled._

"_You know what I mean, something beyond the school, something bigger..."Snape stared unblinkingly at Sirius, his mouth set into a determined line, "I will find out Black."_

_Sirius let out a bark of a laugh, "You want to know what we're doing?" Sirius's eyes sparkled dangerously, "Go to the Whomping Willow tonight, the knob on the at the bottom freezes the branches, there's a secret tunnel underneath. You'll get what you deserve, Snivellus."_

_Sirius briefly saw Snape looking suspicious as he turned, but he knew that curiosity would overcome his distrust. A grin spread across Sirius's face, it was not until later that he was forced to face the consequences of his actions._

_..._

"_SNAPE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! I COULD'VE BEEN KILLED AND DID YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD HAVE DONE TO REMUS?" James yelled, "Don't you even care? Didn't you even think?"_

_Sirius sat quietly on the bed in the dormitory, taking his punishment._

"_Well?" James demanded, his eyes wild, "Answer me Black!"_

_Sirius visibly flinched, James knew he hated the name but ignored the hurt that appeared in his best friends eyes._

_Sirius jumped up from the bed to respond, his survival instinct from years of insults at home kicking in, "I'm sorry!" He said, his voice forceful but not quite a shout, he was trying to restrain himself, he knew he was in the wrong, "I've told you countless times, and Peter, and Remus, especially Remus," he faltered, "I'm such an idiot, and don't I know it. I'm so sorry!"_

"_Sorry isn't good enough Black," James answered him quietly, his voice still harsh._

"_Prongs, please..."_

_James eyes flashed and Sirius fell silent. James walked up to Sirius, so their noses were centimetres apart, staring him straight in the eye, breathing heavily. Even though Sirius had a slight height advantage James's stony expression still chilled Sirius to the bone._

"_Don't ever call me that again! Do you hear me Black? You're just like them, we were the idiots, thinking that a Black could be different. Leave the marauders alone, traitor."_

_James turned quickly and left the room so that Sirius wouldn't see the tears that were filling up his eyes at a rate of knots._

For the final two months of term not one of them had said a word to him. Either they walked away if they were somewhere around school when he attempted to approach them or pretended he wasn't even there and stayed talking amongst themselves. He began to sleep by the blazing fire in the common room, every night waiting for it to be vacated before he could curl up on his favourite armchair in peace.

He had once ran into Peter, the two of them alone, a rare occurrence. As Sirius had begged with Wormtail, the watery-eyed boy had stuttered, mumbled and retreated. Typical Peter.

But James words still echoed around his head, bouncing around in the emptiness their absence had left behind,'_...You're just like them...Black...leave the marauders alone...traitor...traitor...traitor...'_

"Sirius!" A sharp voice snapped his name between her vocal chords, shaking him from his reverie, "Dinner!"

Sirius groaned as he got up, stretching out his back like a cat, a strange comparison for the animagus, and made his way downstairs, each step leading to another evening of questioning and insults.

XXXX

Sirius picked up his silver cutlery apprehensively, beginning to pick at his chicken with his head down, apparently intensely interested in cutting it correctly.

"I had a terrible day at work today," His father, Orion Black, drawled, "Too much trouble over a group of muggleborns going missing. If you ask me..."

"Lovely chicken," Sirius interrupted, he couldn't bear to hear how his father was going to end that sentence.

Orion smiled sardonically, "I'm sure kreacher has done it in the same way as he always does," Walburga frowned at her sons praise of the house elf before returning to her own meal, surprisingly without comment, "We haven't been getting much post lately." He said it as if it didn't matter, but his smirk showed that it meant more than would meet the untrained eye.

Sirius groaned inwardly, of course his parents would have noticed when they screened the post that nothing was arriving for him from his friends. Not that it ever got to him anyway, it was always hidden, or sometimes even burnt.

"I was hoping that you'd come to understand the truth of the matter," Walburga began, a smile gracing her aged face.

At this opportune moment Regulus decided it was time for him to explain the situation to his parents, reminding them he was there. Regulus craved his parents attention, but they were too busy trying to get Sirius back in line. They weren't the sort of parents who did praise, they were more accustomed to giving out punishment.

"He hadn't been with them much at school very much lately. There were rumours..."

"Regulus!" Sirius hissed, "Don't talk about things you don't understand."

"People were saying that Sirius had, changed his loyalties, that he was a traitor to the Gryffindors."

Sirius leapt up from the table suddenly, catching it and rattling the things that lay on it, "I am not a traitor!" he roared the sentence, trying to convince himself as much as everyone else.

"Sirius sit down!" Walburga snapped. Her son stayed on his feet, reaching one hand into his pocket, checking for his wand, something that always made him feel safer, "Sit down." She repeated sternly.

Sirius sat slowly, not taking his eyes off his brother, fixing him with a glare.

Strangely enough Orion was smiling, "A traitor to your family and a traitor to your friends. What will we do with you."

Sirius repeated himself in a strangled voice, trying to ignore James's voice in his head, "I am not a traitor!"

'_Traitor...traitor...traitor...' _

"Sirius now you've got past this silly phase we can get you back on track," Walburga sounded horribly delighted.

'_Traitor...traitor...traitor...'_

"We might even be able to convince Dumbledore to let you move houses," Orion suggested, Walburga nodded vigorously.

The two were oblivious to Sirius, who was slowly shaking his head from side to side. He wanted to dispel James's voice, it wasn't working.

'_Traitor...traitor...traitor...'_

"I don't want to move houses!" Sirius insisted, snapping his head back to stare at his parents again. He had one small triumph, "They won't let you anyway."

'_Traitor...traitor...traitor...'_

"Don't be awkward Sirius," Orion demanded, "If that's the case may be we could move you to Durmstrang."

'_Traitor...traitor...traitor...'_

A horrible thought suddenly entered his head. Would the others even care if he moved houses, or schools? Surely not, it would make it easier for them. He gulped but his thoughts turned to Dumbledore, he wouldn't, couldn't, let them do this. The sorting hat finalised it, right?

Regulus smiled broadly at his brothers distress as Kreacher began to clear up the plates. Regulus stared straight at Sirius, his lips forming the word as he heard James repeat them over and over in his head.

'_Traitor...traitor...traitor...traitor...traitor...traitor... __traitor...traitor...traitor...traitor...traitor…'_

"Stop it!" Sirius shouted jumping up again, everyone turned to look at him, "I'm going upstairs."

"Sirius Orion Black," Walburga said firmly, ignoring Sirius's wince at his full name, "Sit down this instant."

"I can't, I've got to go..." Sirius muttered.

'_You're just like them...'_

"Sit down."

"No I..."

'_Leave the marauders alone, traitor...'_

"Sit down!"

'_Traitor...'_

"No..."

"SIT DOWN!"

Walburga had got to her feet, her face flushed a rosy pink. Her wand was clutched in her right hand, pointed straight at Sirius's face. "Sit down," she repeated, her voice shaking as much as her hand.

Sirius hesitated, his eyes searched his mothers face warily, "No."

"Sit down," Her voice was still eerily calm, "Or I'll make you."

Sirius briefly wondered how dinner had come to this but, out of stubbornness more than anything, remained on his feet.

"IMPERIO!"

The curse took Sirius by surprise, partly because she shouted it so loudly, and partly because it was the first time, out of so many threats, that she had actually turned her wand on him and used an Unforgivable Curse. He stunned look dropped from his face as she forced his to sit down on the seat.

It was an odd feeling being under the imperious curse. It was as if he were suspended in an immensely dense liquid, unable to move or protest. Sirius thought it must be like being entirely paralysed, when other people move your limbs for you and there is nothing you can do about it.

He tried to struggle against it, but it was as if he had lost every muscle in his body, he felt weakened by it.

She finally lifted the curse and he began to gulp in oxygen even though his breathing had been totally fine for the entire experience. He stood up again, slowly because he now felt extremely unbalanced and stared at his mother in disbelief.

She just stared back at him, no remorse shown on her face, eyes emotionless, "Why are you standing up again?"

He hesitated again, taking in another deep breath before continuing, "I'm sick of this, of you. I'm going upstairs."

He tried to stay calm as he sprinted from the room and took the creaking wooden stairs two at a time. But the thought crept into his mind, he couldn't keep it at bay. His own mother had used an Unforgivable Curse on him, he couldn't stay, he had to get out of Grimmauld Place before they seriously hurt him.

He dashed into his room and began flinging things into his school trunk. How long did he have? Could he even make it to the door with the heavy thing? With that thought he grabbed a handful of the money he had saved up and dumped it into his pocket.

"Son, come here now," Orion was outside, his voice quiet but dangerous.

Sirius went to the door, dragging his trunk behind him and came out onto the landing. His father stood a few meters away, wand out but by his side, a grim smile on his face. Walburga, however, still had her wand out and at the ready in front of her. Regulus watched from behind, his earlier smirk had gone from his face, he hadn't expected his mother to go so far. Kreacher stood on the stairs, trying to look impassive but failing to keep the smile from his own face.

"Those blood traitors and half-bloods are nothing, you are a pure blood Sirius, there is no need to mix with them any..."

"Them?" Rage filled Sirius along with another batch of tears. Deep anger built within him and quashed all rational thought and he began to shout, "That blood traitor and half-bloods were my friends, the very best. Don't you even care that I was happy?"

"You can't be happy with them!" Orion roared.

"Hogwarts with them is the only time I've ever been happy!" Sirius's shout echoed through the house and was followed by a deafening silence. His parents stared him down.

"We have done everything for you!" Walburga screeched.

"You've just pushed all your ideas onto me! I can't breathe in this pure blood obsessed family..!"

"Crucio!"

Once again Sirius had a millisecond to be surprised by the use of a second Unforgivable Curse in one night. Then a crippling pain seized his entire body, every muscle, every cell tightened in agony. He lifted up onto the tips of his toes while his body doubled over and he tried not to let out a sound. Blood pounded in his ears, his chest tightened and he couldn't breathe. Suddenly the pain was gone, but the relief he had expected did not come, his muscles could not relax so quickly after such intense pain. It was a slow recovery until his body was pain free again. His heart and breathing rates had sped to over twice their normal speed.

"I can't stay here," He grabbed his trunk and started to drag it, ignoring his arms protests.

"You're not going anywhere," Orion snarled.

"I'm leaving," Sirius hoped his voice sounded stronger than he felt. The idea hadn't really sunk in yet, he just needed to get out.

**Ok, hope you liked that. It was a surprisingly long chapter for me but I am going to try and keep them that way**. **Please leave a review and thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: This story isn't entirely cannon to the HP books, because of James's family. Also this is set starting in the summer before the marauders sixth year.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places or anything else you recognise from HP, they belong to JKR.**

Chapter 2.

Sirius had hoped that his last sentence would have a more dramatic effect, in his mind it had been the turning point, the definitive moment when he knew he wouldn't be staying in this house. But Orion laughed, mercilessly, it was loud and booming, echoing through the dull halls. Sirius continued to drag his trunk along the landing to the stairs, ignoring his father.

"Where do you think you're going?" Orion asked him, snapping back to reality, "You cannot leave, if you leave you are no longer part of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!"

Sirius turned quickly, staring his father straight in the eyes, anger blazing, "Do I look like I want to be part of this pureblood house, I'd much rather be a muggleborn than be related to you!"

There was a long silence as Sirius's words echoed through the house. Walburga stared at her son a moment, her eyes glazed over. It was as if the love that every parent should automatically feel for their children had resurfaced, just for a second, and then it was gone, she blinked and any humanity within her was gone, replaced by pure anger.

Her wand was still raised and the white light of a curse flashed towards him, catching his cheek as he jumped forward, down the stairs, abandoning his trunk. He made it down five steps before landing on the edge of the sixth on his left foot, his knee twisted out from underneath him and he yelped in pain as his legs crumpled and he reflexively curled into a ball, rolling down the stairs. He landed in the main hall, clutching his stomach in pain while the gash from the curse on his cheek gushed blood. Orion's laugh boomed once more.

Walburga followed him down straight away and watched as he lifted himself up on his arms. He put weight on his left leg and once again a cry of agony was drawn from him involuntarily as he collapsed again, on his knees in front of his mother. He looked up at her again as she smiled at him, and he lifted himself onto his right leg, standing in front of her as tall as he could. Tears ran down his face from the pain, but he ignored them.

"That's right," She hissed, "Cry. Cry because you don't fit in with your family. Cry because your friends have kicked you out," He voice began to get louder with each word, "Cry because now you have nowhere to go but onto the street like the dog that you are! Get out!"

Shock flickered across Sirius's face for a second but then it was replaced by his blank mask. He didn't say another word to either his parents or his brother, who was still watching from the top of the stairs. He turned and headed to the door, doing the best he could not to limp, glad they couldn't see his face wincing. He opened the door and felt the breeze blow through his hair. Then he limped out, leaving the door to number 12 Grimmauld Place open and walking off into the night trying not to think about the consequences for the moment.

XXXX

James Potter had never thought about how privileged he was to live in his house. The Potter's house wasn't what you could call a mansion, but it was definitely grand. The house stood three stories tall, not including attic, about three miles away from town, tucked away in a valley far away from any civilisation. James had used to complain, but now he was glad of the peace, it was a somewhat welcome change from the bustle of Hogwarts. At least this summer. He couldn't deal with the rest of the marauders right now.

He didn't even want to think about it, but when he was alone, which was more often now, guilt crept back into his head. About what he had said to Sirius, no matter how angry he had been, or how out of order Sirius had been, he knew he'd had no right to say it. The anger at Sirius's betrayal still burned now and he wasn't sure that he wouldn't repeat himself if faced with the traitor again.

However what he would never admit to anybody else but at night time, as he lay in bed, images of that night haunted him. But it wasn't Sirius's excited face when he told James what he had done, it wasn't the pain in Remus' eyes when he had discovered the truth. No, he was ashamed to say that the werewolf, Remus, advancing on him and Snape, had scared him half to death. The thirst in the wolf's eyes as he had towered over them while they were frozen with fear. He had never seen that from the wolf before, his animagus form did not have the same affect. The last two full moon's he had not gone with Remus, he felt guilty but he could not bring himself to face the werewolf yet. He would go with them next term, Remus and Peter, he had to do it for them.

Currently he was in his room, the attic space, lying flat out on his sheepskin rug. He stared up at the skylight and out at the stars. The Dog Star, Sirius, was low in the sky and it brought a wave a pain. He thought for a moment about how Sirius would laugh at him for getting in touch with his divination over the summer, but then tried to shake the thought from his head, that would never happen again.

"James?" A small voice called his name quietly from the floor below, it was tainted with worry. His little sister couldn't get up to him, he'd pulled the ladder up,"Mum says tea is ready."

"Thanks Jen," James could see her face in his mind, the worry in her eyes, he'd hardly left the room since the holidays had started.

He heard her footsteps trudge away and sighed, he'd told them what had happened, well, a heavily edited version, and they all thought he should forgive Sirius, of course. For him it wasn't that simple, they didn't know half the facts. Such as the part that one of his best friends was a werewolf, or that Sirius had almost killed someone with his stupidity.

He pulled himself from the floor and grabbed the ladder, lowering it down for the first time that day.

XXXX

James was the last Potter to sit down, on the empty side of the table. On one end of the table was his father. Richard sat patiently waiting to dig into his meal. Richard was not a fat man, but neither was he skinny. He was not much taller than James and also possessed the family's untameable black hair. His glasses began to steam up as his meal was placed in front of his by his mother, Caroline. She was thinner than her husband but not painfully so. Her face was full and warm, framed with chocolate hair, her eyes a soft welcoming blue, all three of her children shared these eyes.

Her youngest, Jenny, also had her chocolate brown hair which was untameable without magic. Jenny was two years younger than James. Will was a year older than him, he had the black untameable hair but was lucky enough to have escaped the glasses. He was much taller than the rest of his family, standing at, at least, 6 foot tall.

James sat opposite him, staring determinedly down at his plate, ignoring his brothers gaze. As he heard his parents gather up their cutlery he did the same and began to pick at his fish, he found that he hadn't had a proper appetite for some time now.

James's father worked at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Being division and he liked to come home of an evening and offload what had happened each day. When he was younger he used to do the same as Jenny and Will, stare out of the window and nod appropriately, only listening properly if he had an extremely gruesome story to tell. But now he paid keen attention. He was constantly scared for Remus, especially now Snape knew, the slimy, unpredictable git.

"...A rather dull day," James tuned into the conversation, his father seemed strangely blunt, "Lots of paperwork from the hags last week, rather boring really," Richard smiled painfully and began to dig into his meal. There was an awkward silence.

"How was work William?" Their mother broke the silence.

Will grimaced at the use of his full name and ran his hand through his hair, "Exasperating," Will had started working in a muggle cafe down the road and being unable to use magic drove him insane, he couldn't use magic out of school for at least another six months anyway, but still.

"Well it's good for you, a decent day's work never did anyone any harm," Richard looked at James expectantly, he pretended not to notice and returned to his food once more.

"Jenny, what did you do dear?"

"Bit of history of magic, James wouldn't help me though."

"He wouldn't be much help," Will butted in before Caroline could scold James, "He's no good at it."

I ignored the comment, keeping my head down.

"James?"

"I did a bit of homework," he replied reluctantly.

His mother nodded in defeat, lines of worry deepening on her face.

James placed his cutlery down on his plate, "I'm not hungry," the fish had hardly been touched, "I'm going to go finish my work."

He left the room very quickly, heading back up to his room without looking back, he didn't want to see the pitying looks on their faces.

XXXX

Later he lay on his rug once more, when he heard a floorboard creak below. He realised with a groan that he'd left the ladder down and a second later a mop of black hair appeared and his overgrown big brother clambered through.

"Hey," Will lay down beside him, "How's it going?"

"Fine."

"Having fun?"

"Loads."

"Homework going well?"

"Yeah."

Will sat up with a sigh. Suddenly shoving James in the shoulder,"Stop moping you idiot! What's wrong?"

James sat up to face him, slowly. "You know what's wrong." His answer was sullen.

"You know what I mean. Sirius told someone a secret he wasn't supposed to and now you won't eat! There's got to be something more to it."

"Just leave it."

"Come on, what's this secret? It's got to be pretty big for a big split between you guys."

"Please leave it."

"We used to tell each other everything Jamie!"

James glared at the use of his pet name, "I can't tell you Will, I would if I could but I can't."

"Fine," Will looked concerned but ready to drop it. He attempted cleared the air with a joke, "Just make sure it doesn't affect Gryffindors quidditch. We don't want a fight in the middle of the match."

James smiled weakly, "I won't, I'm captain this year and I won't stand for any nonsense."

Will laughed, "Just make sure you're fair in tryouts, Sirius is a great flyer."

"William?" Their father's voice boomed through the house, "Can I have a word?"

"Coming!" Will yelled back. "See you later, try to cheer up a bit, you're worrying mum and dad Jamie."

With that he got up and climbed awkwardly down the ladder, landing at the bottom with a thump. James heard his footsteps fade with rising curiosity, so he rose from the floor and headed downstairs as quietly as possible.

XXXX

He reached the hallway outside the living room to catch the middle of the conversation, his father and brother were whispering his serious, hushed tones.

"At Hogwarts? Who?" His brother hissed demandingly.

"Yes, but I don't know exactly. You can't tell anyone, else I risk losing my job. I wasn't supposed to say but I'm worried for..."

"Yes, yes. I get it. But why?"

"I don't know, you know what Dumbledore is like. We're campaigning, don't worry. I just need you to keep an eye..."

James turned as anxiety began to churn in his stomach. It sounded like they knew about Remus. He took a deep breath as he headed to the stairs. It probably wasn't that, he was overreacting. His heart raced and breathing became shallow and...the doorbell rang.

He must have jumped at least two feet in the air. He turned to the living room door, there were still angry, now inaudible whispers coming from the room, they hadn't heard the bell. So he went to the door himself, wondering who was here at 10 o'clock at night. It occurred to him briefly as he reached for the handle that he should have checked through the spy hole, but the round brass had already turned and the door was almost open.

He pulled the door to reveal Sirius, leaning against the outside of the doorframe. James felt a shot of anger for a moment before he took in the blood crusting his face, the slightly unusual angle his left knee was pointed. His eyelids were only half open and as he opened his mouth a pained groan was released.

"James, I just need," Sirius took a deep breath as if he was about to say something and then collapsed onto his doorstep, his head giving a resounding crack, James couldn't catch him in time.

"Mum! Dad!" James shouted desperately, all thoughts of Remus, betrayal and revealed secrets forgotten. "I need some help!"


	3. Chapter 3

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: Well, first off I just want to thank my reviewers, it's brilliant to know people are enjoying this story and motivates me to keep writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, just a warning, a very small swear word in this chapter, just so you know.**

Chapter 3.

Peter wished he could be more excited to be in Spain for the entire two months of the summer holidays. His aunt, by marriage, had recently come into a lot of money through inheritance and decided to buy a house there. He and his parents had been invited out there to stay for the school holidays, but Peter would much rather be at home.

He had sent out his old, ragged owl on the first night with letters to both James and Remus attached; but the bird had returned the next day, collapsing into his cage, letters still tied to its scrawny legs. He had decided not to even try to contact Sirius.

But besides the lack of contact with his friends, and their recent problems, Peter still found himself weighed down by them. Even the bright midday sunshine was unable to lift his mood. So he sat in the sun lounger, daydreaming, trying to block out the inane conversation of the four adults. He would figure out a way to fix this, or may be just continue to hope that, by the time he got back, it would have fixed itself.

XXXX

Desperation clouded James's judgement as the rain began to fall down on them. He began to shake Sirius, "Sirius," he yelled it straight into his ear, without any response.

Sirius's black hair was flattened to his face by the rain, his cheek was bleeding badly. James shuddered as the blood dripped onto his hands, wondering what had happened to his ex-best friend.

Will ran out of the living room first, closely followed by his father, both panicked by an unknown threat and still on edge from their conversation. Simultaneously they noticed Sirius with a gasp and crouched quickly beside him.

"Sirius," James continued to shake his friend, eyes welling up with tears, "Wake up!"

Richard called Caroline, his voice rising in panic. Caroline was a Healer at St. Mungo's, working in the 'Creature Induced Injuries' department. James had often had to sit through the story of his father accompanying an injured colleague from his department there, to where he first met his wife.

She hurried down the stairs, wearing a fluffy pink dressing gown and looking increasingly irritated. The feeling dropped from her face as she saw the scene and the collapsed boy on her doorstep. She knelt down quickly beside him, ignoring the cold on her knees. Jenny followed close behind her, hovering in the doorway, unsure what to do.

"What happened?" Caroline asked with urgency, looking at James.

"The doorbell rang," he began, his voice shaking, "And I answered it and Sirius was there, leaning against the door and he..." James took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, "He said...something, and then he collapsed. I tried to catch him but he hit his head on the ground and, and then..." James stood, eyes wide, staring straight at Sirius's lifeless body.

"Ok, ok," Caroline smiled encouragingly at her son before looking over Sirius's condition, "Can you get me the Mediwiz Kit Rich?"

Richard brought the purple box back quickly, it was filled with potions most of which contained ingredients that James had never heard of, and some he wished he hadn't. Caroline woke Sirius up for a few confused moments before she gave him some Dreamless Sleep draught. She strapped up his leg, and managed to stop the curse wound on his cheek from bleeding, she knew it would leave a scar, curses always did.

She watched James hover over his friend, she could see his thoughts in his eyes, _Did I cause this. _She needed to distract him.

"James, you'll have to sleep in Will's room with Sirius, you don't mind swapping do you? We can't get him up to the attic."

James didn't move.

"James," She tried again, "He's fine, just lost too much blood, which is easily fixable. He'll be fine after he'd had a good sleep."

James nodded slowly, his eyes only focussed on Sirius's face, "I'll go make up a bed."

XXXX

It was around two o'clock in the morning when Caroline ordered all her children to bed, she insisted that there was nothing to worry about and everything would be fine the next day, 'A goodnight's sleep and the sun will brighten up everything in the morning'. But James sat watching his friend sleep, guilt racked, he was sure he wasn't the only one wide awake.

Sirius had Will's bed while James slept, or didn't sleep, on the mattress on the floor. He bent his knees up to his chin, wrapping his arms around them and rocking himself back and forth. Possibilities ran through his head about what had happened, many things, stupid things, things that he _knew_ Sirius wouldn't do. But one thought popped up, again and again, and again.

_Did he somehow do this to himself?_

Images flashed in his minds eye. Sirius on a high building; ready to jump. Sirius speeding through the night on his broom; straight into the middle of a thunderstorm. The boy's expression was blank, the Sirius in James's head just didn't care anymore.

He jerked back to reality as he saw Sirius's turn over, now his gaunt face was in plain view, excruciatingly plain view. Instead of being red with blood, it was now even paler than its usual deathly pallor. The angry red mark spread across his whole right cheek, a crude extension to his lips. The movement showed on his face in a grimace and his eyes fluttered open. James jumped.

Sirius seemed equally surprised and his bleary eyes struggled to focus for a moment, flitting around the room, disorientated. It seemed to dawn on him what had happened after a second and he let out a small groan.

There was a silence. James decided he needed to speak to his friend, if only to dispel his own guilt; but he still hesitated, "Err...How are you feeling?" his voice was stiff; hoarse.

"Never better," Sirius's answering grin didn't reach his eyes and was short lived as he saw the seriousness of James's face.

"Be serious," James said, interrupting him before he could say his usual joke, "Don't, this isn't the time."

"I'm sorry James, I've told you again and again. And even though this is not the same as before..." Sirius looked down in embarrassment, neither of them were good at 'feelings', "I'm...I'm still glad you're talking to me again."

"This isn't about that," James recalled vaguely something he had heard earlier and longed to tell Sirius, but he knew he couldn't, how could he trust him again? "This is about your...injuries."

Sirius lifted himself up in the bed so he was in the sitting position, painfully slowly, "Your mum's a miracle worker, I feel great now."

"Ha ha, very funny. It's not your injuries that worry me at the moment," He paused for thought once more, "It's how you got them."

Sirius looked up suddenly and caught James's eye, just for a second. And he imagined that the past months had never happened and that they were still best friends, wide eyed at Remus's long revision periods for the OWLs and using the time to plan a new prank.

He looked down once more, the memory bringing more pain, "Just a fight with some guys down the road, over some girl, it was nothing." Sirius smiled, but the expression didn't reach his eyes.

"Sirius." James probed him for the real answer.

"Well wands got involved and I couldn't use mine for fear of getting expelled," Sirius tried continuing the feeble excuse.

"Padfoot..."

The grin that burst out onto Sirius's face at that moment was the last things James had expected, "You called me Padfoot, Prongs," he tried his friends nickname tentatively, recalling the last time he had tried to use it.

"Yeah," James ignored his lapse, hurriedly continuing, "But your injuries, they're not, they're not self-inflicted are they?"

Sirius snorted in surprise, his mood soaring after what he saw as a huge step closer to being forgiven by James, "Prongs, you don't really think I could do that, do you?"

There was a silence as a response popped into James's head. He didn't want to say it, but it slipped out, bitterness over his isolated summer and his best friend's betrayal was expelled in one sentence.

"I didn't think you could betray Remus either."

Sirius's eyes widened in astonishment. He knew how angry James had been, he'd had every right to be, but he had hoped for a reconciliation, not another comment that would send him spiralling back into the depression that had been clouding his every thought recently.

"Prongs please!" Sirius's eyes were desperate, shining with tears.

"I...I...I'm sorry," James sighed his assent, "That was out of order."

Surprise showed on Sirius's face, and could do nothing but stare at James.

"But did you?" James had to be sure.

Sirius shook his head.

"Then what really happened?"

"I told you..."

"What _really_ happened Sirius?"

"It was nothing really. My parents said some things about you and, well the Marauders," James gaped as he saw where this was going, "And I finally got sick of it and tried to leave...but..."

"They...they did this to you?" James looked horrified, struggling to comprehend what Sirius was saying. He knew what the Black's were like, but he hadn't expected this.

Sirius didn't meet his eyes, "Not exactly; I fell down the stairs."

James actually growled, "Sirius stop giving me this bullshit. What happened?"

Sirius stared desperately down at the floor, speaking almost inaudibly, "It was at dinner, they riled me up talking about you all. Mother, she used the Imperious curse on me," He ignored James's sharp intake of breath, "I went to pack but they followed. Then..." Sirius swallowed, "Then she used Cruciatus. She sent a curse and I fell down the stairs twisting my knee. And then she told me to get out. There was no way I would've stayed anyway."

James was visibly shocked, staring straight at Sirius in alarm.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," Sirius's voice shook, "I...I'm sorry..."

James stood from his mattress on the floor abruptly making Sirius jump once more as he walked crossed the small space between them and sat on the bed beside him.

"You finally left, like you said you would."

"Yeah," Sirius sighed, "I just didn't imagine it to be like this."

James contemplated him for a moment, as if trying to make a decision. Without more than a seconds notice he wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius who sat stock still, leaning away.

"I'm sorry Padfoot. This is my fault."

Sirius pulled away from James's embrace reluctantly, "Don't be ridiculous James, if I hadn't been so stupid, if I hadn't..."

"I know Pads, but you've suffered enough; and I forgive you."

Sirius stared for a moment, confused, unable to believe that this was happening. Then he threw himself forward with force, wrapping his arms tightly around James; who returned the hug, and burying his head in James's t-shirt.

"I'm sorry Prongs." He mumbled into his chest.

They pulled away from each other after a few moments, each with a sheepish smile. Sirius's eyes shone with tears.

"Look, I forgive you, but I don't think Remus will be so, understanding. It will have affected him alot more than me. You're going to have to put up with a lot to gain back his trust."

"S'alright," Sirius shrugged with a wince of pain and made a mental note not to do it again, "I'm used to it now."

"Padfoot..." James looked guilty.

"Forget it now, you shouldn't apologising anyway. I'm sorry..."

"Just forget it," James told him, smiling.

Sirius's voice became desperate, "But you haven't really forgiven me, it's just pity, once I get better it'll go back to..."

"No it won't," James's voice was passionate with determination, and just a tad too loud. He lowered it slightly and looked Sirius straight in the eye, "I've missed you too much."


	4. Chapter 4

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: I had to use an online translator for the Spanish, so sorry if it is wrong.**

Chapter 4.

Although it was already past three o'clock in the morning and both the boys had had an extremely exhausting night, James and Sirius felt wide awake. They sat together on Will's bed chatting about anything and everything, soon relaxing back into each other's company. They were still awake when the sun crested over the hills and sunlight streamed in, lighting the room and signalling a new day.

James and Sirius were both laughing together about a prank they had pulled at the start of the previous year on a group of Slytherins, both tactfully avoiding mentioning Snape, who had, of course been their main target. James praised Sirius' last minute escape plan, and although Sirius knew he was just trying to make up for his behaviour he appreciated it all the same, feeling happier than he had in months.

They were interrupted by a tap at the window. James's owl, a large tawny called Faunus after the Roman God of prophecy, was perched on his windowsill, a scrap of parchment tied loosely to his leg. James let him in quickly, stroking two fingers along the top of his head in praise before untying the note. Faunus flapped over to his cage, taking a long drink before settling on his perch.

James realised with an unpleasant jolt that this must be a reply from Remus, he was the last person he had sent a letter to. He glanced awkwardly at Sirius, whose quizzical look morphed quickly into one of understanding and then onto one of embarrassment. He looked down, clamming up, steeling himself.

"Read it," His voice was muffled.

James looked down and unfolded the note, Remus's usual tidy handwriting was scrawled, it looked like it was written in a hurry.

_James,_

_Can I come over to yours today? Everyone's out and it's a bit lonely at home. Sorry for the short notice._

_Remus._

He hadn't bothered with the usual theatrics which usually filled the Marauders letters, not much of this had been used since_ that_ day. He hadn't even padded it out. James held it out for Sirius.

Sirius looked up, surprise evident on his face. He caught James's eye for a moment but took the note, scanning it quickly, fear quickly appearing on his face.

James looked at Sirius, trying to smile reassuringly. There was only one injury which remained after his mother had healed Sirius the previous evening. The curse scar on his cheek was considerably smaller but the skin around it was painfully red and inflamed. James expected his mum would want to inspect it today, and clean it again just as an extra precaution.

James stared at Sirius, the silence stretching ever longer. It was a few more painstaking moments before, inevitably, Sirius spoke.

"I'll be going this morning, don't worry about it."

"Don't be stupid," James snapped, "Where would you stay?"

Sirius hesitated for a millisecond, "The Leaky Caldron, I'll be fine there until Hogwarts starts again."

"Idiot," James muttered, "You're not going anywhere," James grinned and Sirius smiled nervously back. "He'll have to get used to the fact we're friends again anyway."

Sirius spluttered as James scrawled a reply saying he could come over at about ten and tying it to a very disgruntled Faunus. Sirius's protests were ignored however as they eventually petered out and they got dressed and went downstairs to get some breakfast.

XXXX

Although it was only just seven o'clock Richard had already left the house for the Ministry, Caroline was cooking them all a fry-up before breakfast before she too had to go to work. A tired looking Will and Jenny were sitting at the table, conversing in whispers. They looked up quickly, silenced by James and Sirius's entrance.

"Morning. Mum, I've said Remus can come over at ten, is that alright?" They sat down opposite James's siblings.

"Of course, but I'll be at work and so will Will, so keep an eye on your sister." Caroline flicked her wand, serving up five plates of delicious smelling sausages, scrambled egg, bacon and toast.

"Mum I'm fifteen." Jenny told her irritably.

Caroline pretended she didn't hear this and instead encouraging them to dig in while hovering beside Sirius's chair.

"How are you feeling this morning Sirius? Did you sleep well?"

"Fine thank you Mrs. Potter," Sirius paused to swallow some scrambled egg, "And no, I was deprived of sleep by your son," He smirked as Caroline glared at her bespectacled son.

"He was talking too!" James insisted.

She ignored James's protests, "James he needs rest," She told him sternly, "May be you should go back to bed Sirius, after I've checked you over. How's your leg?"

"Perfectly healed thanks," Sirius smiled through a mouthful of sausage.

Caroline still stood staring at him nervously, "And your cheek, how's that?"

Sirius was just about to reply and reassure her that he was fine when Will cut in.

"Mum, leave the kid alone," He chuckled.

Caroline sat down grudgingly to eat her breakfast, sending concerned looks at Sirius occasionally, but joining in with the conversation all the same.

XXXX

After breakfast Caroline checked Sirius and concluded that he was healing nicely, much to everyone's relief. She also told him that the mark on his cheek would eventually fade to a small red line which would be barely noticeable, even though it would never disappear completely. He had revealed to her it had been caused by a curse, but refused to say anymore. She accepted this eventually after much persuasion and reassurance from James.

Once Will and Caroline had left for work Jenny left the house to meet up with some friends, promising she would be back before her mother so James couldn't get blamed for letting her go when Caroline didn't know about it. Although Caroline was fairly laid back as to where her children went, within reason, she liked to know where they were at all times. Unfortunately they couldn't contact her quickly when she was at work so Jenny left without her permission, leaving James, Sirius and soon enough Remus as well, the run of the house.

Sirius spent the time leading up to Remus's arrival pacing the living room in front of the fire where he would be arriving. James sat on the couch, his eyes following his friend back and forth for a while.

"Relax Padfoot," James said.

"How can I relax?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Suddenly something occurred to James, something he needed to share with Sirius.

"Pads, I need to tell you something," Sirius frowned and sat down next to him, fidgeting slightly. "Last night, before you arrived, I heard dad and Will talking..." He proceeded to tell Sirius about what he had overheard, when he finished Sirius scratched his head, a frown twisting his aristocratic face.

"You think they know about Remus?" Sirius asked, alarmed.

James nodded slowly, "They obviously don't know who, which is a relief, but it might only be a matter of time. And Will's gonna be 'keeping an eye' now," He sighed.

Sirius opened his mouth to reply but suddenly there was a crash in the fireplace as, for just an instant it was full of vivid green flames. Remus stood where they were a second before; then walked out of the fireplace, dusting off his robes.

When he saw Sirius his eyes widened and he looked over at James, confusion and hurt flashing in his eyes, "What is he doing here?" His hoarse voice asked.

There was total silence which felt much longer to all three boys than it really was. Remus glared at Sirius, his temper already short he could feel his anger rising, not just at the reminder of his best friends betrayal, but at the fact that James now seemed to have forgiven him. Had James been keeping in contact with Sirius behind his back?

"Remus," Sirius began slowly, "Please, you know how sorry I am, and..." Sirius edged forward as he spoke, unsure what he would do when he reached Remus.

Remus jumped back, "Don't, don't you dare." He turned away from Sirius, his natural guilt-complex making it impossible to look his former friend in the eye. "James, how could you do this to me?"

"It's not what it looks like," James hurried to explain, the clichéd sentence might have made him laugh in other circumstances. "Sirius only arrived last night, he...he's not very well."

Sirius shot James a sharp look which caught the werewolf's attention, his face crinkled into a frown, "Not very well?"

"He came here last night and..."

Sirius jumped in, "Just a bit of a cold, but it's been weeks, so I popped round to see if Mrs. Potter could help." His voice had a fake cheery edge which aroused suspicion in Remus.

"And you came here, after we weren't talking?" Remus hadn't meant it, but the question came out as a sneer, his resentment bubbling up again, "Or have you guys just been talking behind my back," The pitch of his voice began to rise and he looked over to James again, "You've been friends with him all along, lying to my face!"

"No, no. Remus, honestly, until yesterday I still felt as angry as you do. But he made a mistake, everyone does and besides he needed h..."

Sirius cut him off with a hiss, "Shut up James."

"What, what did he need?" Remus's eyes flickered between the two of them.

Sirius looked imploringly at James, begging him not to say anything about last night, "I don't want any pity. Remus has every right to hate me."

The shock showed on Remus's face, he had never thought that Sirius was so mature about the situation.

"You're right, I do." Remus told him sternly, but then relented and sighed, "But I don't."

Another long silence. Sirius held his breath, waiting for Remus to continue.

"P...Padfoot," Remus stumbled over the nickname, as Sirius's face lit up, "I know you didn't mean to do what you did..."

"Moony..." Sirius was tentative, "I'm so sorry, I will do whatever I can to make it up to you, for as long as I live."

Remus nodded but didn't say anything else. James glanced between the two, knowing things weren't back to normal but at least they had taken a step in the right direction.

"How has your holiday been Moony?" James broke the silence with a change of subject, sitting down in the middle of the leather sofa. His friends both joined him, slowly taking a seat either side of him.

"It's been ok," Remus's voice was clipped, his eyes wandered and caught Sirius's gaze. Neither of them looked away for a moment, and then Remus noticed the scar on the animagus's cheek, "Padfoot," Sirius smiled at his nickname, "What happened to your cheek?"

"Oh," The smile dropped from his face as his hand automatically rose to his scar, examining it for a moment with his fingers, "I got into a fight with some guys down the road and..."

"Sirius." James's voice held a warning.

Sirius sighed, his eyes on the ground, "I had a fight with my parents and I left." He didn't say anything more, but James was ready to stand up for him and promote him in Moony's eyes.

"They were insulting us and Padfoot was defending the Marauders," James added proudly.

Remus smiled slightly but his eyes were sad as they scanned Sirius's face, "They did this to you?" He asked in a whisper, and Sirius nodded almost imperceptibly.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the atmosphere of tension replaced by one of sadness and regret. Then something shifted in James's brain.

"Actually Remus there's something very important we need to tell you. Try not to panic, but we think the ministry knows about you, in your condition, being at Hogwarts."

"What, what do you mean?" Remus's voice was frantic, not paying heed to James's words, "Who? How?" Remus couldn't help the fact that his eyes jumped straight to Sirius.

James was quick to defend the dog animagus once more, "It's not his fault Remus. Last night I heard my Dad talking with my brother. I could be wrong but it sounded like...it sounded like his department were working to get you taken out of school."

Remus leant backwards on the sofa with a desperate groan, and then a sigh, "I suppose it was only a matter of time. Dumbledore told us he'd cleared this with everyone, he must've said that to reassure my parents." It wasn't apparent who the werewolf was talking to as he stared at the ceiling.

"We won't let them do anything," Sirius told him fiercely.

Remus looked over to him, his eyes full of gratitude, but a feeling of helplessness had washed over him, "I don't think it will be that simple." He sighed once more.

"Seriously Moony," Sirius continued, his voice still passionate, "Dumbledore will stop them. Plus when James's Dad realises it's you..."

"They don't know who it is?" Remus asked curiously.

James shook his head, "There's no point worrying about it yet, it's probably nothing."

XXXX

Peter decided that the only way to take his mind off things was to wander into town. Of the four adults he was with, only one was a wizard; his father, which made for conversation which, to him, seemed utterly inane. So his father had given him directions to the magical part of the town, and instructions on how to enter it.

The mechanism was similar to that of entering diagon alley from Muggle London, a towering brick wall at the back of a grimy hotel reception. He tapped the bricks with his wand as told and the terracotta wall folded back before his eyes. He walked forward into a street filled with shops he had never seen before.

He made his way down the street slowly, examining the windows and the strange items that resided there. One shop that seemed to sell robes had a robe on display that, if its wearer was in danger, would squirt an unidentified liquid into a threats eye. Another sold potions supplies, and the window showcased all manner of disturbing ingredients, many of which were entrails of various reptiles.

Peter also noticed many of the shops were boarded up, with signs reading '_Cerrado de Down' _or '_A la espera de nueva gestión'. _And although Peter didn't really understand these, he could see that the owners had left in a hurry.

It was only then that Peter noticed how empty the streets were, people walked past staring at their feet, determinedly not making eye contact with those around them. Peter knew there were a group of dark wizards terrorising the entire magical community, the 'Dark Lord and his Death Eaters', according to rumours. Was it possible they had reached Spain?

Peter spotted an ice cream parlour and crossed the road, ordering himself a sundae and falling back into a chair gratefully. However before he could take a mouthful a boy, may be a year older than him, pulled up a chair beside him, startling the rat animagus. The boy had short, jet black hair and piercing blue eyes, he stared straight at Peter for a moment as if waiting for him to speak.

"Err...sorry," Peter stuttered awkwardly under the unrelenting gaze, "Were you sitting here?"

"_Él viene, es sólo cuestión de tiempo antes de que tenga todo el mundo luchando por su causa." _The strange boy continued to stare intently,_ "Nada lo detendrá, así que cuál es el punto en la lucha?"_

Peter blinked, unsettled by whatever this Spanish boy was trying to tell him, "I'm sorry," Peter tried, "I don't speak Spanish."

The boy didn't falter, he continued in halting English, "He is coming, it's only a matter of time before he has the entire world fighting for his cause. Nothing will stop him, so what's the point in fighting?" The boy said nothing more, he just stood and walked away a few meters, apparating within seconds.

A shiver ran down Peter's spine, he knew who he must be talking about, he'd read about various disappearances in the Prophet, seen classmates suddenly leave to go home to their families in the middle of term. 'He' was coming, and Peter had the terrible feeling that the strange boy was right; there was nothing they could do to stop him.


	5. Chapter 5

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: Thank you once again to my reviewers, or if you've added this story to your favourites or alert list. There is a poll on my profile page concerning a certain element of this story, whether I include slash or not, it could go one way or the other depending on the majority of votes so please vote and let me know what you'd like to read, thanks again.**

Chapter 5.

Remus continued to visit the Potter household during the summer; slowly but surely things were getting back to normal. Sirius was regaining the confidence to properly talk to his friend and joke with him, while Remus was coming to terms with forgiving Sirius; as he realised how much he had missed the dog animagus.

James decided they should send an owl out to Peter in Spain, to keep him filled in on what had been happening; but they owl returned two days later with the letter still attached, marked with a red circular stamp: 'Unsent – Department of Wizard Communications Overseas'. Faunus looked highly affronted by his failed delivery, but Sirius placated the bird by feeding him some of James's cereal when he wasn't looking.

A few days after their reunion in James's living room the three were sitting together in James's room chatting, when James sent Sirius a meaningful look and announced he was going to make himself some tea.

"Anyone want any?" He asked casually.

"No thanks Prongs," Sirius replied at the same time as Remus said; "No thanks."

"Alright," James quietly left the room, climbing down the ladder and leaving the other two alone together for the first time since, what James secretly referred to as, the 'Whomping Willow Incident'.

Sirius stared idly down at his fingernails, while Remus failed to catch his eye. Suddenly Remus stood up, James's bed creaking slightly, and he moved to stand in front of the dog animagus. Sirius couldn't ignore him anymore, so he brought his head up to look Moony in the eye.

Remus saw pain flickering in Sirius's eyes, and he was overwhelmed with a wave of guilt that he had inflicted this on his friend, "I feel guilty Sirius." He told him sharply.

Sirius frowned, "Why should you feel guilty?" He asked, rising to stand opposite his friend.

"I don't know," Remus ran a hand through his hair, "I don't think I should, but I do, so I want you to talk to me." Remus's sentences jolted, as though he was struggling to get the words out.

Sirius hesitated, "About what?"

"Just talk, so I don't have to feel responsible for this rift between us."

This time Sirius didn't pause, "You shouldn't, this is my fault."

Remus gritted his teeth, "I know that, that's why it's so unfair," Sirius tried to interrupt but Remus continued to speak, "But I want to forgive you, and forget what's happened, because I know you regret it, I can see it. I just think you should know that."

Sirius nodded awkwardly, before a mischievous grin broke out on his face and he jumped forward tackling Remus into a hug. Remus laughed and wrapped his arms around his friend as Padfoot sniffed, "Thank you Remus."

XXXX

When 31st August finally rolled around, the three boys plans to meet in Diagon Alley were dashed as James and Sirius realised the amount of homework they still had left to do; including a Transfiguration essay on the dangers of transfiguring animals into other animals, a Potions essay on the psychological effects of Felix Felicis, a Defence Against the Dark Arts essay on the physical effects of a dementors presence, and a star chart of every Monday throughout the summer holiday for Divination. James had been sure, after the OWLs, that they would have a free summer break to relax, he had been sadly mistaken.

So with a joking grumble, and refusing to accept Sirius's money, Caroline Potter headed off to Diagon Alley, using to floo network, to collect everyone's school books. James, Sirius, Will and Jenny, had books and notes, quills and papers strewn across the living room floor, attempting to concentrate while the sun blazed outside for the first time in weeks.

"Just half an hour," Sirius almost begged, he was sat on the floor, legs crossed, staring at his Transfiguration essay. He had almost finished, but he hadn't written near the amount that McGonagall wanted.

"Come on James," Jenny joined in with a grin.

"Yeah, sorry James, I'm with them, we need a break," Will added.

James ran his hand through his hair in irritation, he wasn't quite sure why he was arguing against them, or why they felt the need to have his permission. He wanted a break just as much as they did, and Quidditch did sound appealing. He'd barely had a chance to go on his broom all summer, his mood and the weather preventing it. Really it was a shame to waste such fine weather.

"Alright," He agreed, and the others jumped up with a cheer, heading out to the yard.

James was immediately glad he'd agreed, as he soared over the trees, glad they lived in such a remote area. The air rushing past his ears was refreshing, and James called to Sirius, "You'd better get some practice in you know, I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're my friend!"

Sirius sent him a quizzical look, James frowned before remembering that he hadn't yet told his friend the news, "Oh yeah, I forgot to say. I got Quidditch Captain."

Sirius laughed, zooming towards him on a borrowed broom which James had said could be his from now on, seeing as he'd left his back at Grimmauld Place, "Why didn't you tell me? Congratulations!"

James shrugged, "Thanks mate."

"And I don't need you to go easy on me."

They got the quaffle and a beaters bat out of the shed and threw it between them, while Sirius tried to intercept it and hit it in all directions with the bat, aiming and hitting gaps in the trees.

He hit another tree causing leaves to tumble down, birds squawked, flapping their wings desperately to get away.

"Oi Sirius," Will called with a chuckle, "My parent's will kill you if you destroy _all _the trees!"

Sirius just grinned back sheepishly, circling and sweeping down to the ground and grabbing the quaffle, throwing it sharply at Jenny, who wasn't looking. She turned rapidly, catching the quaffle firmly in both hands, raising her eyebrows at Sirius.

Sirius grinned apologetically and accidentally dropped the beaters bat, narrowly missing James's head.

"Watch out!"

They returned to the house a couple of hours later, exhausted, and settled back down to try and finish the mountain of work they'd been given. As it happened Caroline returned home just five minutes later to find them all working silently, with a knowing smile she handed each of them their books and headed into the kitchen to start tea.

XXXX

That evening after tea while Sirius was in the shower Will came to find James. He struggled up the ladder into his brother's attic room, squeezing his tall form through the trapdoor. James was adding the finishing touches to his Charms essay, still amazed that he and Sirius had been able to finish the entirety of it before the start of term, and placed his quill into the inkpot when he saw the serious look on Will's face.

"What's wrong?"

"I need to speak to you," Will told him quietly.

James nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Dad told me something that I think you should know," James's heart sank immediately, "Don't tell him I told you," Will paused again, fishing for the right words, "He told me that his department have learned that there is," A deep breath, "That there is a werewolf at Hogwarts."

Will looked at him expectantly, obviously expecting a gasp of shock or at least an expression of surprise.

James struggled to live up to this, having already known this fact for almost three years, so he used another tack; denial, "What? That's ridiculous."

"That's what I said, but the evidence is overwhelming, there's an eyewitness apparently."

James's expression changed to one of anger, _Snape._

Will stared at his brother, confused, "Dad told me to keep an eye on you and your friends, his department are working to get the student expelled."

"You don't know who it is?" James asked sharply.

Will shook his head, "All we know is that it's a fifth year."

James was slightly tempted to reply, '_Oh right, didn't I tell you, it's me, sorry about hiding it from you all these years'_, in a feeble attempt to save Moony, but instead he settled for an angry retort, "Surely he can't help it, doesn't he deserve an education?"

Will frowned, "He?"

James spluttered for a moment under Will's inquisitive gaze, "I just assumed..."

Will continued to study him carefully for a few seconds before deciding James was telling the truth, what other explanation could there be for what he said? So he answered James's question, "Yes I agree with you on that, prejudice is wrong, but a werewolf at Hogwarts is a risk to the entire school. What was Dumbledore thinking?"

"May be he doesn't know," James suggested hopefully.

"I doubt that," Will sent a guilty glance towards the trap door, "I just thought you should know, I know how often you and your friends go wandering at night."

Before James could reply Sirius's head appeared, hair dripping wet, and Will jumped. Sirius sent James a look that told him that he'd heard everything. Will glanced wearily between the two before bidding them goodbye.

When Will was out of earshot James spoke, "We can't tell Remus, it'd only worry him even more."

Sirius nodded, guilt building; the _eyewitness_, _Snape_, was his fault.


	6. Chapter 6

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: Hello, I'm so sorry for the long wait! I have to admit it took me a while to get this ready but I had it done about a week after the last chapter was up, however there was an error on fanfic so it wouldn't let me edit certain fics; this being one of them. Sorry! Ok, I still haven't decided whether to put slash into this or not, please go to my profile and vote on the poll to help me decide if you have an opinion. Anyway, on with the next chapter, please leave me a review, they brighten my day. Thanks in advance for reading.**

Chapter 6.

The first of September was brisk and chilly, despite the bright sunshine. Mr and Mrs. Potter dropped James, Sirius, Will and Jenny off at platform 9 3/4 with hugs and advice which they knew would be ignored.

"Try not to get into trouble."

"Try not to annoy Peeves."

"Don't go wandering at night."

"Don't leave revision for tests to the last minute."

"Don't drive another Professor out of the school."

Sirius grinned at the two people who had taken him in. They had accepted him into their home without the slightest hesitation and welcomed him as though he was their son. Sirius was eternally grateful to them.

"Thank you Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter," Sirius nodded to each of them, "For taking me in when I had nowhere else to go."

Caroline grinned, "How many times must we tell you to call us by our first names?" She asked affectionately, pulling Sirius into a hug and ruffling his hair. Richard shook Sirius's hand and clapped him on the back.

"We enjoyed having you Sirius," He told him, "You'll be coming back to stay with us next summer?"

He said it as a question, but really it was a definite statement, there was no way the Potters would let him find somewhere else to stay. Sirius's eyes widened in astonishment and he replied with genuine sincerity clear in his voice.

"I'd love to Mr. Potter. Thank you."

The Potter's left soon afterwards, hugging each of their children goodbye. Jenny and Will soon disappeared into the crowd, looking for their friends.

They only took a few steps forward before Sirius saw them; his family. Orion, Walburga and Regulus stood apart from the crowd on the platform. As if they had a bubble around them, people avoided the Black's and gave them a wide berth. They held their backs straight, radiating superiority. Orion caught Sirius's eye for just one second before he turned back to his youngest son with an emotionless mask, which revealed nothing. James glanced at Sirius quickly, but Sirius just continued walking, James ran to catch up with him.

James and Sirius hauled their trunks onto the train. They were early so they found an empty compartment and hoped that Remus and Peter would find them.

"You alright?" James asked carefully.

Sirius just nodded sullenly, staring out of the window.

XXXX

Peter Pettigrew was late for the train, again. He shoved his trunk onboard and jumped into the carriage mere seconds before steam began to billow from the chimney, and the train began to move.

He dragged his trunk down the train, searching for his friends. He reached a compartment and saw Sirius...and James...and _Remus_. Sitting together? Peter opened the door with incredulous eyes. He dragged his trunk in and was greeted warmly. Sirius jumped up immediately and gave him a hug, leaving the rat animagus speechless for a moment.

"It's nice to have you back," Peter told him sincerely when Sirius moved back, beaming.

Sirius helped Peter get his luggage onto the rack before they all sat down and Peter stared, questioning, at the others. His expression clearly asked _'What happened?'_

James took it upon himself, being brief but not missing the details, to bring Peter up to date. When he had finished Peter looked at Sirius and saw the red line running down his cheek, he looked at Remus who looked completely at ease with the current arrangement. Then he nodded.

"We tried to send you owls, but they kept getting sent back."

Peter frowned, "The same thing happened to me." He didn't mention the boy he had met in Spain; it had unsettled him more than he cared to admit. Peter turned to Remus, "You'll be going to see Dumbledore when we get there? To sort this out quickly."

Remus shook his head, "He's done enough for me already."

Peter looked like he was about to reply but Sirius beat him to it, "It's my fault," He muttered, "Bloody Snape."

"Padfoot," Remus growled at the dog animagus, "Stop blaming yourself. He would have found out eventually, he would have followed us."

Sirius didn't reply, although he took a little comfort in Remus's words, instead changing the topic seeing that the werewolf looked uncomfortable and he felt the same thing himself, "How did everyone's OWL results go?"

They hadn't spoken about it in the holidays, with everything that had happened, OWL results were the last thing on their minds.

James spoke up first, "O's in Transfiguration and Defence, E's in everything else."

"Wow," Sirius said with raised eyebrows and James swatted his arm.

"Don't sound so surprised! Oh and I got Quidditch Captain," James told Remus and Peter, they congratulated him before Peter revealed his results.

"E's in everything except A's in Divination, History of Magic and Charms, and a P in Potions."

"You don't have to take it this year," Sirius said with slight jealousy, "Lucky. Well done. Moony?"

"An O in Defence, E's in everything else expect Potions which I got an A in."

"Well done," James said and repeated the question to Sirius.

"All E's."

James frowned, E's were good, but Sirius was bright, he'd been expecting his friend would achieve at least one O.

"At least you're consistent. What happened with Defence?"

Sirius shrugged, "I couldn't concentrate very well at exam time."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause, and then Remus spoke up, "Only you wouldn't be able to concentrate when you had no one to distract you," Remus smiled at him.

Sirius grinned back gratefully; glad they could talk about it freely now.

At that moment Lily appeared at the compartment door, sliding it open with a look of intense surprise of her face. Her hair had been left to grow longer over the summer, wavy red locks reaching the middle of her back. Today the sparkle in her emerald eyes showed curiosity.

"Remus, we've got to go to the Prefects meeting," She told him uncertainly, "And then we're on duty to patrol the train."

"Evans," James spoke with clear delight, "How was your summer?"

"It was lovely, thank you Potter," She replied cooly, her eyes turned to Remus in a clear gesture that she wanted to leave quickly.

"I'll see you guys later," Remus stood and left the compartment with Lily. James watched with barely concealed jealousy.

Sirius grinned lopsidedly at James, "You've got no chance Prongs," James looked very irritated by this.

"She'll soon come to realise that she likes me," He said with an air of uncertainty in his voice; it had been three years since all this began, and even before then she hadn't liked him. How was he supposed to know that the countless pranks on Snape would upset her, they seemed perfectly fair to him. "She'll realise that all the things she's said about me over the years are actually, completely wrong."

Peter smirked, "Including the comment about rather dating a particularly smelly and ugly toad?"

James glowered at him, annoyed to be reminded of that particular incident from when they were younger, but he said nothing in return.

Sirius chuckled for a moment before turning to Peter, "How was Spain?"

Peter thought for a moment, about the boarded up shops, the empty streets, the unusual Spanish boy. Should he mention it? It seemed silly now, so far away in the warm compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Instead, after a pause, he said, "Nice weather, but it was terrible company. No one my own age to talk to."

XXXX

As Remus and Lily walked down the long aisle of the train to the compartment where they would meet the new head girl and boy, Remus couldn't help noticing how grown up his friend looked compared to a few months ago when he had last seen her.

"How _was _your summer Lily?" He asked.

Lily smiled, "Oh same old, same old," She replied casually. She paused and Remus raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue, "Over the holidays I saw Robert Summers, he's a Ravenclaw, in seventh year now, we've started seeing each other." Lily flushed a light pink but couldn't keep the smile from her face.

Remus had seen Robert a couple of times around school, and at Prefect meetings. He had a strong build, but couldn't be more than a couple of inches taller than Lily. He had a kind face and light brown hair. He was also on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, a chaser like James. _James. _Remus dreaded him finding out about this...he remembered the last time.

"That's great Lily," Remus replied warmly.

"Thanks," She paused, that curious glint reappearing in her eyes, "And your summer?"

Remus thought for a moment before settling with, "It turned out alright in the end."

"What happened..?"

Remus shook his head, "I can't really say," Remus had wondered countless times about revealing his condition to Lily, he couldn't see her being prejudiced, and since they had both become Prefects they had become much closer. No, the time had never seemed quite right, and he didn't quite know how to bring it up. Although he knew she often wondered about his location each month, and asked often about his 'mother's health'. If she was as nosy as his other friends she'd know by now, she was smart, but she respected his privacy, "We all talked, things are back to normal."

Lily nodded with a grin, "It was a little too quiet even for my liking in the last two months of last year." Lily considered Remus's face and didn't push the subject any further, "How were your OWL results?"

Remus reiterated his results; Lily congratulated him before he asked for hers.

"O's in Defence, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions, E's in everything else."

"Well done," Remus congratulated her warmly.

They reached the large compartment where the annual meeting of the Prefects took place and Lily headed quickly to sit next to Robert, waving to Snape on the way past. He saw her sit next to Robert and his face curled into a look of disgust. Remus wondered if they'd seen as much of each other over the summer as they usually did.

Remus wasn't sure whether he should sit beside them but Lily beckoned him over. Before she had a chance to introduce them properly the new Head Boy and Girl began to speak from the front of the room.

Remus tuned out most of what they said, instead taking in the choices Dumbledore had made. Both were previous Prefects, which was no surprise really, he rarely picked anyone who wasn't. Head Boy was a Gryffindor; Bradley Kirby, a tall, lanky, studious boy, who in Remus's opinion didn't command much authority. But he seemed to be confident as he spoke, easily bouncing sentences off the Head Girl; Abby Rogers. A Hufflepuff, the first Head to come out of the house in a few years. Remus didn't know her well, she seemed self-confident, while not appearing arrogant.

The meeting only lasted half an hour, at the end Remus and Lily were reminded they were scheduled to patrol the front half of the train. With a slight groan they headed off to the inevitable duels, excitable first years and general chaos that marked the journey to Hogwarts.

XXXX

They were all grateful when they finally reached the great hall, the Sorting was over and food materialised onto the golden plates. A couple of first years down each table squeaked with surprise, and every student in the room quickly dug into the range of dishes; chicken wings, various types of fish, succulent meats, cheeses, pumpkin juice.

Frank Longbottom sat to the left of Peter, "Good summer?" He asked the four Marauders, he didn't seem surprised that they were talking again, he'd known that nothing could keep them apart for long.

It looked like the others could think of nothing to say, so Peter spoke, "I went to Spain with my family, which was nice. Yours?"

Frank blushed slightly, his cheeks and ears burning crimson, "I, I, erm, I asked Alice out," The four Marauders grinned.

"Nice one," James said, "That's great."

"Thanks," Frank looked quickly at Lily and back at James, wondering if he knew about her and Robert. The red head was laughing with her two best friend Alice Prewett and Mary MacDonald. He saw the almost imperceptible shake of Remus's head, so he didn't say anything on the subject, instead turning to speak to his best friend Karl Dexley. Karl had just missed out on getting onto the Quidditch team last year; he had lost to Sirius with four hits to five at aiming and hitting the bludger at certain targets. James hoped to have him on the team this year as the other beater had now left Hogwarts.

When everyone was finished with the savoury food it disappeared and a variety of cakes and sweets appeared in its place. Finally, when everyone was full to bursting point the plates cleared completely. Dumbledore stood at the front of the Great Hall, silence fell suddenly among the students and staff; even the Slytherin's conversations stopped. He paused for a moment, surveying the hall and seemingly taking in every single person present. And then he spoke, there was no need for him to enhance his voice magically.

"Young witches and wizards," He smiled slightly, "Welcome to Hogwarts and welcome back. I trust you have enjoyed the feast." He paused as though this was a question. Then his jovial manner disapparated and it was replaced with an expression of utter seriousness, "I'm sure everyone in this room knows, to some extent, the happenings occurring right now in the Wizarding World. The work of a group of dark wizards," Peter shivered. "These wizards have views, beliefs that elicit the pain of people who believe otherwise. But we can not allow them to take away our happiness, our normality; we must strive to continue, and to believe that what is right will prevail."

James couldn't help thinking over the headlines he had read over the summer; witches, wizards and muggles were going missing every week. He knew the 'Death Eaters', as his father had referred to them, were getting closer, their numbers were growing. He shared a look with Sirius, Remus and Peter, really wondering for the first time if they and their families were safe.


	7. Chapter 7

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: *hides behind desk* Err...hello. I'm back! I'm really sorry for the long wait between updates, but life keeps getting in the way. Sorry but there most probably won't be another update until late June. But, looking on the bright side (whistles Monty Python song) this is a long chapter by my standards. However, I was a bit nervous about posting this; not really sure why. Just a quick point; the stuff I have put in about the careers is **_**mostly**_** made up by me.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money out of writing this.**

Chapter 7.

Morning rose much too quickly for the students of Hogwarts, fresh from the lie-ins and liberties of home life. The sun was tinged an unusual orange, burning a bright hole in the hazy sky. As they were now sixth years they had the entirety of the first morning back free; with the exception of a talk with McGonagall about which subjects they would be doing for their NEWTs.

Twenty minutes talking to their head of house about what they would be taking, including their NEWT results. And Peter, surprisingly, was looking forward to it.

"I got an E in Transfiguration, an E! There was a point last year where I would have been struggling to get a T!" Peter babbled, sitting on the edge of the bed and fumbling with his shoelaces, "McGonagall can't complain."

"Good for you Wormtail," Sirius mumbled from his bed.

"Shouldn't you be getting up Padfoot? You've got the first appointment in half an hour. You know how cranky you get when you don't eat breakfast." James grinned lopsidedly at his friend, only half dressed himself, wandering round the clothing strewn room in search of his robes. Really, James thought, they'd only been here one evening, how had it gotten this messy already?

He didn't get a coherent reply.

However, half an hour later Sirius was finally out of bed and dressed, without breakfast. He hurtled out of the dorm towards McGonagall's office with a quick, "Save me some toast."

He arrived at the door to Gryffindor's head of house, dishevelled. His usually 'perfect' jet black hair sticking up at the back, robes creased from their time on the floor, and one shoelace dragging behind him. He knocked hurriedly.

"Come in Mr. Black."

Sirius pushed open the door with the hint of a sheepish smile, "Sorry I'm late Professor." He waited for her to offer him a seat before throwing himself down into the chair opposite her; the desk between them.

"So, Mr. Black." Her mouth was its usual tight line, she looked weary; discussing ridiculous careers with 16 and 17 years olds obviously wasn't how she wanted to spend her day. Her eyes flickered down for a moment, scanning the piece of parchment which he assumed held his exam results, "A set of Es." She took a deep breath before asking the questions that almost always began these interviews, "How did you feel about your results?"

McGonagall knew what _she_ thought of Black's results, the boy was bright; very much so. Especially at Transfiguration, and she had heard similar praise from other teachers. Not that anyone ever told the boy; his ego was big enough as it was. He could have done much better. Then again, at the end of last year he'd been different; and McGonagall was one of the few people who knew exactly why.

"They were ok, I guess," Sirius stared at a chip in the wooden desk, "I could have done better, but..."

Sirius glanced up hopefully at the professor, hoping she would carry on without bringing this up. No such luck.

"Hmm, and what happened over the summer?" She tapped her quill against the table a couple of times, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, err, you know what happened."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows but didn't push it any further; she'd seen the boys sitting together at the feast. Even though it was sure to be a year of havoc because of it, she was glad that the 'Marauders', as they called themselves, were talking again.

She placed the parchment lightly down on the table and continued in a brisk, businesslike tone, "Well, Mr. Black, according to the teacher's requirements this year you're able to take any subjects you'd like. Do you know what career you'd like to pursue?"

"I'd like to be an Auror," Sirius told her, determination clear in his voice.

Sirius was a Black; the irony of this was not lost on the Professor, but she managed to keep her face passive, "Right. You understand that you have to work extremely hard to get into this profession? No NEWT grades below E, and even after you leave school there will be years of rigorous training."

Sirius shrugged as though he wasn't bothered, but when he looked up, his eyes were intense, "I've heard my parents talking, I know what these people, what," He closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in a deep breath before continuing, "I know what _they _do, and I want to stop it. Something bigger is coming, I heard talk of a war, and I want to be fighting."

McGonagall blinked. She didn't think she'd ever heard anything so mature come out of the boy's mouth. She nodded approvingly, a small smile gracing her lips.

Sirius grinned in response, "D'you think I can get the grades Minnie?"

McGonagall's smile dropped immediately, and Sirius had just enough time to realise that none of the Marauders had actually used that nickname to her face before now.

"Mr. Black, if you ever call me that again I will make sure you have detentions every night for the entirety of the next year." McGonagall's eyes bulged in a way that Sirius was sure wasn't healthy, "What do you want to take?"

"Well Transfiguration obviously," Sirius continued hastily, his eyes flickering to the wall behind the professor; on which hung a portrait of a frail, elderly looking wizard, staring down at him disapprovingly. McGonagall gave no visible reaction. "Erm, the main ones; I think these are what I need...Defence Against The Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology and," Sirius paused to sigh for a moment, "Potions. I was also thinking of Muggle Studies; I've heard it's helpful to know about them in case you have to work in Muggle areas?"

McGonagall raised her eyebrows in a show of slight surprise; he seemed to have actually thought this through.

"Yes, those will do Mr. Black, are you sure?" Sirius nodded and she took a moment to dip a long white feathered quill into a black inkpot and write the information down, "Your timetable will be given out at lunchtime, and you'll be due to start lessons this afternoon." She gave an amused smile, "If I were you I'd make the most of the free time now, it's going to be a tough two years."

Sirius nodded with a grimace, "Thanks," jumping up from his chair he strode purposefully from the room, shutting the oak door behind him, oblivious to the fact he had used much more force than necessary.

McGonagall watched him leave, slightly perplexed. May be the events of last year had done some good; allowed the boy to mature. May be he was finally settling into his studies, getting beyond the pranks and the rule breaking; growing into a man.

McGonagall shook her head with a small chuckle. What a thing to even _consider_?

XXXX

Lily entered the office with a determined expression. Hair pulled back into a perfect ponytail, as usual. She waited to be offered a seat, and then sat perched on the edge of it.

"Good Morning, Miss. Evans. Congratulations on your brilliant results."

Lily smiled broadly, "Thank you Professor. I'm just so glad I got the result I needed."

McGonagall smiled back, she can't help but like Lily, she's a perfect student; almost certainly in line for Head Girl next year. "Do you know what career you would like to pursue?"

"I'd really like to become a healer, it fascinates me."

"That's definitely possible, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that there are four years of training after school that you'll have to complete, and another two after that to specialise." Lily nodded and so she continued, "What subjects did you plan to take?"

Lily quickly states her subjects; it's obvious to McGonagall that she's put thought into this, "Transfiguration, Potions, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Charms, Muggle Studies and Herbology."

McGonagall nods and finds she has no more to say and quickly scratches the subjects down onto the parchment with her quill.

"That's all, thank you Lily."

Lily got up to leave, "Thank you Professor."

McGonagall smiled again, "Good Luck Miss. Evans."

XXXX

At approximately 10:40, running twenty minutes over schedule after an almost hysterical laughing fit from Karl when he fully realised the impossibility of his ideas to be a dragon trainer when he had an unhealthy fear of fire, McGonagall ran an impatient hand over her face, muttering to herself about the burdens of being a head of house. Moments later the next boy walked in; Remus Lupin. Small for his age, with subtle scars littering his neck and arms; the boy was timid, waiting for an invitation before he sat down nervously. He clasped a much abused piece of parchment in his hands, absentmindedly folding and unfolding it as he avoided the professor's eyes.

"So, Mr. Lupin, a good set of results?"

Remus nodded, eyes glancing down to his parchment; his answer was vague, "My parent's were pleased."

McGonagall smiled encouragingly, "Do you have any ideas concerning a career you would like to persue?"

Remus's face visibly fell, and his mouth twisted for a moment before he could speak, "I'd like to be a Healer," He sighed; a sigh of the long suffering, one that should never come from one so young, "But even with a full set of Os at NEWT level they'd never employ me."

Oh. McGonagall had spent much of the day preoccupied with a countdown of students until the end of this torturous task, this particular issue had slipped to the back of her mind. Nevertheless she had previously prepared for this argument, although it was a difficult one.

"Remus," She replied in a rare, soft tone, "You can't think like that. I know people with your condition who have stable jobs and earn a fair wage." She paused to clear her throat as lump rose at the unfairness of the entire situation, "I'm sorry that it's like this; but you may have to accept that getting a job in such an important profession may not be an option for you."

The boy's eyes shone with unshed tears, now she felt desperately guilty; she'd most likely just crushed the boy's only hope. But he looked up with a hint of determination in his eyes, and not for the first time she felt admiration. He's fought all this adversity from such a young age, and he's managed to become what he is today; not turning to another path as many would.

"I don't know then," He shrugged, "But I know what I want to take."

McGonagall nodded, "That will do for now, as long as you keep your options open."

He glances down at his piece of parchment intermittently as he speaks, "Erm, Transfiguration and Defence Against The Dark Arts definitely. And I thought, Muggle Studies would be useful, in case I need to get a job in the Muggle world. I really like Charms, so that too. Arithmancy and History Of Magic."

"It sounds like you've thought this through, Lupin." McGonagall smiled at him and makes a note of his choices on her parchment, "Thank you Remus, and try not to worry about careers too much."

"Sure," He replies dully with a fake smile, "Thanks Professor."

He shuffles quickly out of the room.

XXXX

Somehow, McGonagall marvels, she's regained some time, and might actually be able to make it to lunch. She thinks this might be a first, however, knowing her next interviewee well, she doesn't have much hope that it will last.

James strolled into the office with a cheery grin plastered across his face. McGonagall wondered if James knew just how lucky he was. He had a loving, supportive family, came to; in her opinion, the best wizarding school in the world, and had a fair amount of money, and, of course, a tight group of friends. Unfortunately, said friends weren't so lucky. Remus's innocence had been stolen from him at a young age, Sirius was born into the wrong family, and Peter, well his parents were currently struggling to pay the school fees.

Anger flared in her thoughts for a moment; the ministry should be helping families like his with financial troubles, instead it's all hands on decks fighting this new threat. She can see it coming to a head; it's been slowly building for years. Sirius was right; how odd, there's going to be a war.

"Good morning Professor," James greeted in an equally cheerful tone, plonking himself down in the empty chair without being asked.

The line of McGonagall's mouth tightened, small wrinkles in her face becoming more pronounced.

"Morning Mr. Potter," She replied, and, for what felt like the millionth time today, glanced down to check his results, "A brilliant set of results Mr. Potter; I trust you will be continuing my subject?"

"Of course Professor," James answered with mock seriousness, "I look forward to our next two years together.

She decides to ignore that comment and just try to carry on, "What career aspirations do you have Mr. Potter?"

"I want to be an Auror," He tells her immediately, but continues before she can speak, "I know it's tough to get the grades, and I know there's a lot of training after we finish school; but I really want to do this."

McGonagall nodded, feeling slightly run down by the tedium of the process, "I definitely think you can Mr. Potter. What subjects do you plan to do at NEWT level?"

James looks slightly surprised that she accepted his idea so readily and flashes another grin, "Obviously Transfiguration, Defence, Potions, Charms," He frowns in thought for moment, "Erm...Care of Magical Creatures and Divination."

McGonagall knows that James's father works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the ministry, so she's not surprised by him choosing Care Of Magical Creatures, however another one of his choices does throw her, "Divination?"

James sighed, "I do hate the subject, but prophecies interest me when there is a real seer..." James trails off at McGonagall's look, "Ok, I can't think of anything else to do." His smile changes with his expression to sheepish.

"Herbology?" She suggested, but James grimaces. She rolls her eyes, "Divination it is."

XXXX

Peter Pettigrew shuffled into the office with a slight air of pride about him. McGonagall checks his results as she invites him to sit down, and is reminded of his surprising result in Transfiguration, "Congratulations on your results Mr. Pettigrew," She begins, "Happy with them?"

"Definitely," Peter nodded eagerly.

"I warn you," McGonagall told him, "It will be a difficult two years."

Pettigrew suddenly looks terrified.

"Any ideas for a career?"

Peter looks like he's about to say something, but stops himself, "No," He shakes his head.

"Ok, it's best to keep your options open with your subject choices then. What do you plan to take?"

Peter's voice jumps an octave as he squeaks his reply, "Transfiguration, Herbology, Defence, Astronomy and Muggle Studies."

McGonagall considered this for a moment before scribbling it down; her handwriting has been getting less neat as the interviews have gone on, "Ok Mr. Pettigrew. We'll talk more about your career later in the year."

XXXX

Peter was met outside the office by his three fellow Marauders, and they headed straight to lunch, though it was still early. At the door, a supply, teacher whose name they didn't know, gives them each a timetable and they sit at the nearly empty table before looking it over, while digging into the wide selection of food.

"Double potions last thing on a Friday, with the Slytherins," Sirius groaned, "It's bad enough with Slughorn going on about amazing Lily is, now he's going to be praising Snivelus too."

James shoots him a look but is unable to say anything as his mouth is full of chicken.

"At least you haven't got Astronomy in the middle of the night," Peter continued quickly with a sigh.

"Well you'd better not wake us up," James grinned, but it dropped as he saw Remus from the corner of his eye, staring dejectedly into space, "Moony?"

"Hmm?"

"What's up? What did Minnie say?" James asked with concern.

"Nothing I didn't already know," Remus replied emotionlessly.

James looks at Sirius sharply, a glance that clearly says 'what-can-we-say-to-make-this-better'.

"How about being a teacher?" Sirius asked with a grin.

James chuckled, "Moony, you'd make a great teacher!"

Remus shook his head, staring gloomily at the oak table now, in an attempt to avoid any eye contact, "No one's going to want someone like me working with their children."

Sirius shared a look of concern with James, but Peter speaks up, "Remus, everything's going to be alright. We're going to help you, we're not just going to abandon one another when we leave school, are we?"

Remus looks up wearily, but a slight smile plays on his lips, "Thanks Wormtail."

At that moment Lily walked into the Great Hall, her hand entwined with Robert Summers'. They headed straight to the Ravenclaw table and sat down side by side. James watched them the entire way, mouth open in confusion. Remus almost groaned, he had hoped to keep it from James for a little longer than this.

James, however, saw his reaction and his head snaps over to him. Sirius and Peter also look to him, unsure of what else to do.

Under James's gaze, Remus spoke quickly, "Lily told me they got together over the summer. I didn't want to say anything..."

James stood abruptly, and for one tense moment the other three thought he was going to storm over to Lily and make something of it. But instead he climbed over the bench and almost jogged out of the hall, leaving a half eaten chicken leg resting on the table. Sirius shares a quick look of alarm with both Remus and Peter before getting up himself and almost sprinting after his friend.

"James!" He called when he reached the doors, following his friend's path up the main staircase.

He's unable to catch up to James until they reach the dormitory, arriving, panting for breath, to see James lying face down on the bed.

"James?" Sirius asks tentatively, sitting down on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Gof affay..." James mumbles through the sheets, his body shaking slightly.

"Come on Jamie."

James rolls over with an attempt at a scowl at his nickname, but his eyes are wet and his face crumples almost immediately.

Alarm rises again in Sirius, he knew his friend liked Lily, he had for years. However, he could never have thought it would provoke this strong a reaction. In reality they'd barely had a civil conversation in the entirety of the previous five years.

"Prongs," He breathes, and his friend looks so helpless that he pulls him into a tight hug, "Prongs..." He doesn't know what to say.

"Sorry," James mumbles into his shoulder, before leaning away, "I'm being stupid."

"I don't..." Sirius frowns, "I really don't understand."

James gives Sirius a withering look, but it fades almost as soon as it's arrived, "I guess I've never really mentioned it. It's kind of embarrassing." Sirius waits for him to continue, "Lily...I...I think I love her."

Sirius shook his head slightly, his eyebrows shooting upwards, "_Love_?"

James nodded in response.

"Wow. I'm really sorry, mate."

James nodded again, "Me too."

"You know it might not last," Sirius attempted to reassure him.

"Yeah," James grunted, slowly laying back down and closing his eyes as tears began to leak out once more.


	8. Chapter 8

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: Hello! I'm back from hiatus, I'm really sorry it's been so long, but I was a little lacking in ideas. I think I have it back on track now; although this may be a little too dramatic, I'm not sure about it. Thank you for reading, please leave a review!**

**Warning: There is blood in this chapter. Not sure if that's a warning but I thought I'd mention it.**

Chapter 8.

Sixth year, unlike so many others, did not start with a bang for the Marauders. With James moping over Lily, Remus constantly worrying about his place in the school, Sirius 'secretly' ducking behind people when he saw his brother, and Peter stressing over the list of Missing Person's in the Daily Prophet; along with a larger homework level than they were used to; made for a hideous first couple of days back.

Lessons started off much the same in every subject, each Professor would give a brief overview of the topics they would cover in the next two years and then make a speech about the difficulty of it all which was designed to scare. It seemed each Professor was trying to outdo the others.

So when the first Friday rolled around, it was a great relief for the Marauders. Peter and Remus sat one side of the Gryffindor table, Remus stirring soup with a spoon, but not eating any. On the other side, James kept glancing down the table, to where Frank, Alice, Mary, Lily and Robert sat; muttering under his breath about sitting at the wrong tables. Sirius often turned to look at the Slytherin table, eyes searching for his brother. Regulus sat with his usual friends, laughing. Once he caught Sirius's eye, but both brothers quickly looked away.

None of the Marauders spoke to one another, until Peter's flitting eyes came to rest on the teacher's table.

"Are those Ministry wizards?" He asked without thinking.

The staff table had been extended slightly, two extra chairs added and seating rearranged. On Dumbledore's left hand side sat two pristine wizards in entirely black robes, they didn't touch their food while the Marauders watched them, just looked intensely at Dumbledore, whose face was tight as he spoke.

They all thought it, but no one could bring themselves to say it. They were sure they knew the reason they were here.

"Oh Merlin," Remus ran a hand through his hair.

"Remus, don't worry, we're not going to let them do this." James insisted, shaking himself away from his current problems; which, in light of this, seemed _almost _petty.

"There's nothing you can do," Remus said almost to himself.

"Come on Moony, they can't do this to you, you're..."

Remus cut Peter off sharply, "Don't call me that," He hissed, eyes darting around the room as though someone would hear over the chatter or students and suddenly understand the meaning, "I'm going to bed, 'night."

Remus got up awkwardly, walking quickly from the Great Hall and leaving his soup untouched.

"Oh Merlin," Sirius repeated the sentiment, unsure of whether they should follow. He shared a quick look with the other two before deciding there was nothing they could say now to help.

XXXX

Saturday night found Sirius wandering round the school afterhours on his own, wearing James's 'borrowed without permission' invisibility cloak, and having forgotten the Marauder's Map. After many restless hours tossing and turning in his bed he'd got up to take a walk, not waking James as he usually would. Sirius quickly realised that roaming the castle at night was not nearly as much fun on his own.

Passing a fifth floor classroom he heard the sound of indistinguishable talking coming from inside and quickly stepped closer, placing his ear next to the crack of the door and straining to hear the conversation coming from inside.

"...to prove yourself. Your family has always been seen as a solid supporter...but now there has been dissent in the ranks..."

With a slight jolt Sirius recognised the voice; Snivelus.

"I know!" Another voice hissed in reply slightly too loudly, "But that's not me!"

Another, larger jolt of recognition. Regulus.

"I know that," Snape responded, his tone arrogant, "But you cannot just presume to join the ranks because of your family anymore; you must prove that you are _worth_ something to _him_. That you have a purpose."

"You say 'him' like you've met him," Regulus muttered, almost too quiet for Sirius to hear.

"And why shouldn't I have?"

"You're still just a kid, like me."

"He wants young supporters, people who can grow up trained to fill the roles he needs us to fill."

"And I want to do that, but I don't need you watching me all the time," Regulus snapped.

There was a short pause and some footsteps heading in Sirius's direction; he jumped back quickly just before the door was pushed open.

"Prove yourself, Black," Snape hissed, before striding quickly away down the corridor.

Sirius leant back against the wall, something building in his stomach, making him want to throw up. He didn't want his little brother to do this, he couldn't let him. So Sirius did something he would later regret, he pulled off the invisibility cloak, stuffed it inside the pocket of his robes and waited for Regulus to come out.

It was only a few seconds until Regulus came through the door, he saw Sirius immediately and started violently. The younger Black hesitated for a moment before he spoke, "What are you doing here Sirius?" He hissed, "What did you hear?"

"Enough," Sirius replied, his voice shaking slightly, "Although it wasn't anything I didn't already know."

"You have no right to judge me; you left," Regulus insisted, hearing Sirius's tone, but Sirius shook his head.

"And you can't blame me for leaving." Sirius desperately wanted his brother to understand, "You saw what they did Reg."

Regulus's eyes flickered down to stare at the stone floor, unable to meet his brother's gaze, "You made your choice," Regulus said darkly, "You're not a Black anymore Sirius," Regulus paused, then fished in his pockets for his wand. His eyes rose to look straight at Sirius, "You're not my brother."

Involuntarily, Sirius took a couple of steps backwards, recoiling from Regulus's words and the wand pointed at him, "Reg..." Sirius begged quietly, "Please don't...you don't have to stay with them, you can come with me."

"No," Regulus hissed, and then he went to turn and walk away down the corridor.

"Wait!" Sirius called, slightly too loudly, and Regulus turned back to him to see that he now had his wand raised too.

"Are you going to fight me?" He laughed, Sirius flinched at how much like their father he looked when he laughed like that. The booming laugh that had followed his announcement that he was leaving echoed in his mind.

"If I have to. You have to hear me out."

"I have," Regulus shook his head, "There's nothing else to _say_."

For a moment there was complete silence. Eyes flickered between wands and faces as they waited each other out. Breathing quickened and hearts raced in horrified anticipation of what was going to happen.

"Can you act before me Sirius?" Regulus taunted, then without waiting for an answer, "_Turbeo_!"

Sirius didn't manage to react in time, he didn't want to duel with his brother, just help him see sense. Suddenly he was spinning uncontrollably. It took him a few moments to think of a counter curse and he removed the jinx quickly, responding immediately with, "_Impedimenta_." Surprised at his good aim as his head continued to spin.

Regulus was knocked off his feet by the spell, but jumped back up quickly, brandishing his wand angrily, "_Stupefy_!"

But Sirius hadn't waited for Regulus, and a fraction of a second later Sirius's incantation, "_Stupef_y!" joined it. The two identical red spells collided in the air, bouncing off at angles and dying at the stone walls.

"Regulus..." Sirius tried again, but it seemed his brother was beyond reason.

"You left me behind Sirius. We're on different sides now," Regulus told him in an oddly calm and resigned voice. Sirius got the impression that this was just the eye of the storm.

"No! It doesn't _have_ to be this..."

"_Sectumsempra_!" Regulus cried, self control snapping. He brought his wand down in a slashing motion again and again and again. His wand emitted a small flash of light, but Sirius didn't see it.

Deep gashes materialized all over his body, causing him to gasp in pain. His hands pulled desperately for a moment at loose hanging skin, unsure of what he was trying to achieve, before he fell down to the cold floor, writhing in uncontained agony.

Regulus froze, "S...S...Sirius..." He stumbled forward but didn't kneel down next to his brother.

Hands pushing at one wound at a time failed to stop the blood flowing from the wounds. His robes began to soak it up and became heavy. Sirius changed his position so he was lying on his back, unable to stay still for even a moment, moaning in pain. Blood pooled around him. Hot, wet blood.

"Reg..." Sirius groaned desperately between increasingly shallow quick breaths, "Help..."

Regulus just stood there for a moment, watching in horror as the agony caused uncontrollable contractions of his muscles, and Sirius couldn't stay on his back, rolling with a sharp cry on pain onto his stomach. He took a step away from the mess of blood, robes and flesh that was his older brother.

Then he ran.


	9. Chapter 9

The Butterfly Effect.

**A/N: Sorry, once again, that this took so long. Also sorry that it's a rather short one.**

Chapter 9.

When James was woken by someone urgently shaking him he didn't immediately open his eyes. Two things registered, one; it felt like only mere moments ago he had dropped off to sleep, and two; wasn't it a Sunday?

His eyes fluttered open to find Remus bending over him, his friend's scarred face sheet white. He glanced at the window and saw that it was still dark outside, and that Peter was quickly pulling on some robes. Alarm coursed through him at Moony's expression and he sat abruptly upright, "What's wrong Remus?" His tone was serious as he spoke.

Remus shook his head, speaking quietly, "I'm not sure, McGonagall's outside. She said we needed to put on some robes quickly and come with her."

James frowned, this didn't explain why he was looking so scared. They'd been called to see McGonagall more times than he cared to remember, sure it was odd that she had come to fetch them in the middle of the night, but...

Then he noticed, as Remus moved to his trunk to quickly dress in his robes.

"Where's Sirius?"

He didn't get an answer from either of the other two. Normally Sirius's absence at night wouldn't have him overly worried, although he usually woke James at least if he wanted to roam the castle after hours, but the looks of the others faces, and the way they were avoiding his eye sent his heart racing in fear. He got out of bed quickly, and pulled his robes over his pyjamas.

XXXX

McGonagall didn't speak as she led them down the corridor to her office. For a while neither did the three Marauders. When they reached the door of her office James finally spoke up, unable to stand the silence and the _not knowing _any longer.

"What's going on Professor?" He asked urgently.

Professor McGonagall said nothing, but ushered them into her office and gestured for them to sit down on three wooden chairs facing her desk, Remus and Peter did so but James remained standing near the door. She sat down at the desk, her sympathetic eyes resting on them each in turn.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," She began finally, resting her hands on the desk, "Mr. Black was found about an hour ago with some rather serious injuries..."

"What injuries?" James interrupted, the three Marauder's were gaping at her in shock, they weren't sure what they'd been expecting, but this had been one of the least likely imagined scenarios.

"Cuts. They were magical in origin, it seems most likely that he was attacked by a fellow student," She paused as if not wanting to believe this herself but having no other option.

"Who?" James questioned angrily.

"Unfortunately we don't know yet," McGonagall's voice was soft, but there was a barely surpressed fury in her eyes.

"Well hasn't he told you?" James was now shouting, a little desperately.

She paused uncomfortably before continuing slowly, "Sirius was unconscious when we found him James," She saw the blood drain completely from the three boys faces, "It seems the person who cursed him just left him there."

For once the Marauders seemed speechless so she continued briskly, "He has been transported to St. Mungo's and his family have been informed, but Professor Dumbledore and I thought that you ought to be told as soon as possible to avoid you finding out any other way."

James, still standing by the door, stepped forward angrily once more, "His family kicked him out! You should have called my parents, he lives with us now."

The Professor took James's outburst in her stride, her tone understanding, "We are aware of the situation James, your parents have been informed too. I think they are already at the Hospital."

"We need to go there," Remus insisted.

"Right now," Peter continued, James nodded in agreement.

McGonagall sighed, "Of course, I knew that you'd want to," She raised a hand to stop the protests she could see coming, "And of course you can. I'll arrange some of the other teacher's to take you there in side-along apparition. Professor Dumbledore can meet you down there," She paused again, "Would you like to get fully changed first?"

Her question was met with stony looks, only Remus spoke up, extremely quietly, "We want to be there as soon as possible Professor."

"Of course, wait here a moment," She stepped towards the door, and James moved out of her way before voicing the question no one else had yet dared to.

"How bad is it Professor?"

She looked back at him uneasily, her eyes again quickly scanning each of the boys, "He's lost a lot of blood." And that was all she said before she swept out of the room.


End file.
